APA’S CONTINUING PUSHTO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCEAPA has been a longtime proponent of stronger gun laws.Here’s a summary of our latest efforts and what you can do.Policy Brief

The statistics are startling: Every day in the United States, an average of 289 people are shot, and 86 of them die. Of these deaths, 30 people are
murdered, 53 die by suicide, two die
accidentally, and one is shot in a police
intervention, according to the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

American civilians lead the world
in gun ownership, with one-third of
all Americans owning a gun (Injury
Prevention, 2015). And although many
Americans are concerned about guns in
the hands of terrorists, firearm violence
is much more likely to occur in the form
of suicides, intimate partner violence and
accidents. In fact, from 2000 to 2013, for
every American killed by terrorism, more
than 1,000 others were killed by firearms,
according to data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the
U.S. State Department. In all, 406,496
died by firearms and 3,380 by terrorism
in that time frame.

What has APA done recently to
raise the visibility of this issue?

Recognizing the urgent need for
increased efforts on gun violence prevention, in 2013 APA released “Gun
Violence: Prediction, Prevention and
Policy,” a report by a panel of experts who
synthesized the current knowledge on
the antecedents to gun violence and what
works to predict and prevent violence.

Among the report’s conclusions:

■ Violence prevention begins in early
childhood with programs to help parents
raise emotionally healthy children and
continues throughout the lifespan with
efforts to identify and intervene with
troubled individuals who are threatening
violence.

■ Although only a very small percentageof people suffering from a mental illnessare dangerous, mental health treatmentcan help those at risk for violence dueto crisis, suicidal thoughts or feelings ofdesperation.

■ Prohibitions that keep firearms away

from high-risk groups—includingdomestic violence offenders, peopleconvicted of violent misdemeanor crimesand those who have been adjudicatedas being a threat to themselves or toothers—have been shown to reduceviolence. In line with APA’s mission topromote psychological knowledge forthe public benefit, in 2014 APA adopteda Resolution on Firearm ViolenceResearch and Prevention, which hastwo primary goals: 1. to encouragethe scientific study of firearm violenceand its prevention and 2. to encouragepsychologists to respond to the problemof firearm violence as scientists,practitioners and educators.

What legislative action does
APA support?

APA believes that gun violence must
stop and has asked Congress to:

■ Increase funding for violence
prevention research.

■ Remove unnecessary policy riders

that hamper funding for evidence-based
research on violence prevention at key
federal agencies.

■ Expand the collection and analysis of
data related to gun violence and other
violent deaths.

APA also advocates for funding forresearch and community-based programs